The Thing between Gibbs and Sloane
by Bonasena
Summary: this is inspired by the preview from 1703 where Torres talks to Sloane about her thing with Gibbs. I hope you enjoy it
1. the profile doesn't fit

**Note: I just watched episode 1612 and I also earlier watched the preview for 1703 and it gave me this idea. I hope you like it. please let me know what you think.**

Ellie is sitting in the forensics lab alone. It is late. Everyone else has gone home. She is sitting on the table. Tim, Torres, and Jimmy come into the lab.

"Bishop, what is going on?" Tim asks. He has his phone in his hand. Ellie sends her fellow agents a message to meet her in the lab.

"Are we having a meeting?" Jimmy asks.

"no guys I need to talk to you about something. Something is up." Ellie says in an almost whispering voice. She constantly looks towards the door to see if anyone is coming.

"Bishop, what is going on?" Tim asks a bit concerned.

"Have you noticed anything strange about Gibbs and Sloane lately?" Ellie asks.

The three men look confused at each other and then at Ellie. They are clearly not sure what she is referring to.

"I had this strange experience today. I came into the office and Sloane and Gibbs… they seemed to have like a private moment. They were standing really close. Sloane's hand was on Gibbs's chest. The way they were looking at each other."

Nick starts laughing. Jimmy looks really nervous as he always does when it has something to do with Gibbs and Tim just looks confused.

"come on Bishop. Gibbs and Sloane?" Nick asks in disbelieve and laughs.

"I'm not joking Nick I saw it," Ellie says persistently. In the same way, she usually does when no one buys her theory about a case.

"rule nr. 12." Jimmy reminds everyone. Torres and McGee's immediately agrees with Jimmy. "Gibbs rule nr. 12: never date a co-worker." McGee elaborates to remind Bishop specifically what rule nr 12 says.

"I know but I am telling you guys." Ellie sounds more persistent.

"Okay, Bishop let me show you something," Tim says and walks over and turns on the computer in the lab that Kasie normally uses to look up information for cases. Torres, Jimmy, and Ellie are standing next to him to follow along on the screen.

"that is Shannon Gibbs… Gibbs's first wife. Rebecca Chase, second Mrs. Gibbs. Diane Fornell, Gibbs 3. Wife and this is Stephanie Bronwyn Flynn, 4. Mrs. Gibbs. And this is former NCIS Director Jenny Shepard." Ther are now pictures of all 5 women on the screen. "do you see a pattern?" Tim asks and looks at Ellie with a determined look.

"They all have red hair. Gibbs definitely has a type." Torres concludes.

"yes… and Sloane." Tim says and pulls up Jackqueline Sloanes NCIS picture on the screen. "doesn't fit the profile." Tim says.

"that doesn't prove anything. I saw what I saw." Bishop is not that easy to convince.

"I get it, Tim. She has a different hair color, but… I know what I saw. There was definitely a 'thing' happening between them." Ellie is walking around restless on the floor as the always does when she is frustrated.

"listen Ellie. Rule nr. 12. We all know how determined Gibbs is about his rules. Gibbs would never violate any of his rules. He lives by those rules." Jimmy tries to explain.

"I know… but…"

"listen Bishop. I get how you could get the impression. Sloane can get in anyone's head. She knows how to Jedi mind-trick people…" Tim says.

"Yeah, and they are both stubborn as hell. They are both former militaries and they work pretty well together." Torres adds.

"they are actually pretty perfect for each other," Jimmy concludes. He almost surprised by his own conclusion based on the facts that are put on the table.

"almost too perfect," Torres adds and looks a bit creeped out about it.

"Just one problem," Tim says in a very determined matter of fact way. Ellie looks irritated at him. she hates when he doesn't get to the point right away. "she just doesn't fit the profile."

"what profile?" they hear Agent Sloane asks from the door and everyone is shocked and doesn't really know what to say or do or how to answer her question.

"did we have a new case?" she asks and walks over to the group.

"no. no. we were just talking." Tim tries to cover up. Everyone else nods in agreement. Sloane looks suspicious at them.

"I thought the case was closed," Sloane says and looks around at the group with her arms crossed over her chest while she is leaning against the table. No one knows what to say or what to do about Jack's stare at them. There is an awkward silence among them. It is amusing Jack. She can see how uncomfortable especially Jimmy is. Suddenly all of them at once get a text message.

"We got a case," Torres says and almost runs out of the lab.

"saved by the bell…" Sloane says and laughs to herself as the group almost falls over each other to get to the elevator first. Sloane pushes herself off the table and by accident hits the mouse that reactivates the screen that had gone to black. She sees all pictures of the 5 redheaded women. She recognizes one of them… former NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard, who was killed in action a few years ago. But she doesn't recognize any other women on the screen that her picture is next to.

**note: if you don't really feel like a continuation of this chapter is needed i have made this chapter a one-shot as a part of my profile of the profiler story. which is a bunch of one-shots around Gibbs and Sloane from season 15+16 **


	2. new case

It has been a few days since Sloane walked in on Tim, Ellie, Torres, and Jimmy in the forensics lab and overheard them talking about a profile that didn't fit. She is determined to figure out which one of her profiles they were talking about and who the 4 unknown women on the screen are. It knocks on her door and Gibbs comes in.

"morning Jack." He greets and hands her a cup of coffee.

"morning Gibbs." She greets and takes the cup of freshly made coffee. "got a new case?" jack asks.

"nope. Just checking in. see how you are doing. It is a quiet morning."

"Enjoy it while it lasts." She says and it makes him chuckle. He takes a seat across from her. It always makes her smile seeing him. He seems so relaxed as he is sitting there across from her.

"what are you working on, Jack?" He asks after a moment and takes a sip of his coffee.

"Not sure yet. She admits honestly and takes off her glasses.

He gets a text message and immediately Jack recognizes the look on his face.

"We got a dead buddy." He says and stands up. "see ya, later Jack." He says as he leaves the office. Jack noticed that he managed to take a lollipop without her notice as he stood up and left the office.

Later in the afternoon, Gibbs walks up to the stairs to Jack's office. The door is open, but the office is empty. Well… Jack isn't there but there are a bunch of files and papers on her desk. Gibbs has a case file in his hand with information about a victim that he would like for her to profile but from the look of her desk it seems like she got her hands full with something. He knows that she doesn't technically report to him, but they work together quite often. He walks into the office and places the file on her desk. As he drops the file on her desk a photo drops on the ground behind her desk. Gibbs goes to pick it up. He picks it up and now sees her computer screen. There is a picture of each of his ex-wife's and a picture of Shannon. Gibbs can't believe his own eyes. She must be investigating him and that would be the reason why she wouldn't tell him this morning what she was working on. He places the photo that fell on the ground on the table and he now realizes it is a photo of former NCIS director Jenny Shepard. What on earth is she doing? Gibbs drops the file and leaves the office. He meets Jack at the door as he leaves the office.

"Hey, Gibbs." She greets with her usual smile. "did you need something?" she asks after him. he is already halfway down the stairs.

"Nope." He says in an unusual cold tone and leaves. She looks after him with a questioning look but doesn't say anything. He probably has an issue with his ongoing case.


	3. rule nr 3

The next morning McGee comes into the office. No one else is in the office. Torres and Bishop have been on stakeout all night.

"Morning McGee." Sloane is standing at the top of the stairs. McGee stops his backpack on his desk and walks up the stairs to meet Jack.

"good morning Sloane." McGee greets.

"morning." They walk towards Sloane's office.

"have you seen Gibbs this morning? I have tried to call him, but he doesn't answer.

"hmm. That is odd. Rule nr. 3." Sloane look confused at McGee, so he elaborates. "Never be unreachable.

"do you know all of Gibbs's rules?"

"not all of them." McGee takes a sip of his coffee. "but there might be an explanation for Gibbs breaking rule nr. 3. We have been hunting our suspect since yesterday afternoon. We finally got a lead late yesterday."

"oh right… about that." Sloane hands McGee a file. "I did a little profiling on your suspect." Before McGee can open the file, Sloane places her hand on his to get his full attention. McGee looks up from the file. "be careful with his guy. If he feels trapped, he won't hesitate to do whatever it takes to escape. He knows his sniper training and he knows his way around explosives, and he has a degree in chemical engineering. Tell Gibbs to be careful." It is very clear to McGee that Sloane is not kidding about this guy. He is no joke. McGee nods in understanding.

"Thanks, Sloane." He says and takes the file and walks down the stairs to the office. McGee makes it to his desk just in the same moment as Gibbs exits the elevator.

"morning Boss. I just spoke to Agent Sloane. She has finished the profile on our suspect. She thinks that…" McGee is looking through Sloane's profile as he is sitting down at his desk.

"McGee Torres and Bishop got the suspect under surveillance. Go."

" But boss..." McGee looks confused up from the file. "Sloane thinks that we should…" Gibbs has taken the file from McGee so he can't finish telling Gibbs what Sloane says about how to handle the suspect. He is irritated and walks over and throws the file on his desk. McGee us just looking very confused about his boss's behavior this morning.

" go McGee."

McGee hurries to grab his backpack and storms to the elevator. Gibbs takes a seat at his desk and starts looking through his file.

"Gibbs…" he looks up and sees Sloane walking down the stairs towards him.

"I got you the profile on your suspect you left at my desk yesterday." Sloane walks over to Gibbs's desk. She steps behind his desk which she is the only one who ever dares to do so. She looks at the file he has on the investigation that he was looking through.

"Sloane, we got our guy. We have him under surveillance now."

Jack looks very nervous. "yeah Gibbs that is exactly what I am concerned about. Have you seen this guy's military record? He has history of insubordination. Violence, struggle with mental…"

"I got it, Jack," Gibbs says irritated and stands up. She looks surprised at him. he is avoiding her eye contact. Normally he is willing to take her advice on suspect backgrounds so his withdraw and hostile behavior towards her confuses her.

"Gibbs… I am just saying be careful."

"I have handled suspects before Jack. I got this," he says and takes off and leaves Sloane alone. Jack is confused. She doesn't understand why he seems to be avoiding her calls and ignoring her profiles. She has a really bad feeling about this case could get really messy really fast.


	4. a bad feeling

McGee, Bishop, and Torres are on a stakeout to try and catch their suspect. McGee is sitting at the window watching the suspect in the apartment across the street. Torres is laying down on a couch while Bishop is tracking the suspect's online activity. Torres has noticed that McGee seems a bit nervous.

"Everything alright McGee?" Torres asks.

"no… it doesn't feel right." McGee says. Torres sits up on the couch and Ellie is now also focused on the conversation. So now that he has his colleague's attention he elaborates on his bad feeling about this case.

"I spoke to Sloane this morning. She told me that this guy is serious business. I didn't get to read the entire profile but based on what we know about him and combined with what Sloane told me… we should not be surveillance this guy. If he feels trapped, he won't hesitate to take any method to get out."

"We are used to that McGee," Torres says not really getting McGee's concern.

"Torres, I tried to talk to Gibbs about Sloane's profile. He basically ripped it out of my hand and told me to do the exact opposite of what Sloane had told me. Why would Gibbs disregard Sloane's profile of the suspect? Sloane also said that Gibbs had been unreachable to her since yesterday."

"are you questioning Gibbs order, McGee?" Ellie asks and McGee suddenly seems unsure of his own concern. Maybe Torres is right. McGee decides to let it go. Gibbs knows what he is doing. McGee has worked with Gibbs for almost 16 years now and they have been in many difficult situations, to say it mildly and he has never doubted Gibbs for a second, so why should he do it now? Gibbs always keeps his head straight in the game and keeps his emotions out of the office.

"Have you guys noticed anything different about Gibbs since yesterday?" Ellie suddenly asks. Her two fellow agents look confused at her. "he has been avoiding Sloane since yesterday and yesterday he even seemed confused and yesterday when Sloane came down to the office Gibbs left the office without even talking to her. Something is up with those two."

"not that again Bishop." Torres sound tired just be the mentioning of Ellie's theory about a thing going on between Sloane and Gibbs.

"if there were really something going on between Gibbs and Sloane… which I doubt there is… why would Gibbs be avoiding her and ignoring her profile?" McGee asks with a confident look.

"yeah, Bishop… why would he disregard his supposed love interest's advice?" Torres asks in a joking tone which clearly tells Bishop that he is just making fun of her theory.

"I am telling you guys it is not a good thing if there is something going on with Gibbs. When Gibbs gets personally involved… things tend to get messy."

Bishop and Torres can see on McGee's face that he is not kidding. Clearly, it would be a really bad thing if Gibbs started to get emotional around the office. Torres looks out the window. "suspect is on the move."

Suddenly in a split second the three agents are back in business and focused on their suspect. McGee is trying to let go of the nagging gut feeling that something is off.

He is soon to get his bad feeling confirmed.


	5. things get messy

**note: there are some graphic details about violence in this chapter. if you dont want to read that you can jump to the next. this doesn't have much of a plot to the story about Gibbs and Sloane.**

Gibbs is sitting in the Squardroom at his desk when Sloane hurries down the stairs and turns on the tv on the news. The breaking news headline reads a chemical explosion in DC. Gibbs stands up immediately to look closer at the news video. He sees Torres being brought out on a gurney by paramedics and he has a mask on her face. shortly after another gurney is being brought out of the burning house where the suspect was spotted. The gurney is carrying a buddy bag. Gibbs and Sloane are looking for any tiny little sign of Bishop somewhere in the video. Everyone in the video is wearing oxygen masks. Gibbs gets a bad feeling in his stomach. He feels Sloane's hand on his shoulder and right now he doesn't even mind. He needs comfort right now. He might just have gotten most of his team hurt. He feels like he has been punched in the stomach. There is silence in the squad room when Gibbs receives a call from Tim.

"yeah, McGee…"

"boss…" McGee sounds worried and tired.

"Tim… give me an update." Gibbs has a bad feeling that he is about to get the first possible message from Tim. Gibbs has lost too many agents he can't lose another daughter.

"Boss… he tried to blow us up. He opened fire at us. 2 officers down. Bishop is unconscious and on the way to the hospital. Torres is banged up and being checked out by the medics but he should be fine."

"what about you Tim?"

"I'm fine, boss. He blew himself up with some sort of chemical explosion that took out 4 officers and knocked out Bishop and Torres. They were the once closes to the explosion."

"get to the hospital McGee and get checked out… and call Delila." Gibbs hangs up and runs out of the squad room while Jack goes up to her office.

Gibbs runs into the ER to find his agents. He immediately sees McGee. McGee seems a little banged up but otherwise fine. When Gibbs looks around it looks like the worst-case scenario of a chemical attack. It makes Gibbs feel sick to his stomach. He could have gotten his agents killed.

"how are Bishop and Torres?" Gibbs asks to try and get his mind to focus on the case.

"Bishop is still unconscious and Torres has a mild concussion but he will be fine." McGee looks down at the ground. Gibbs can sense he want to say something.

"you want to say something McGee?"

McGee looks up and meets Gibbs's eyes.

"Why didn't you listen to Sloane? She said not to corner him. she predicted this."

Gibbs is clearly irritated. "yes I know that McGee."

Gibbs gets a text from Vance to get an update in his office.

"I gotta go. Keep me updated on Torres and Bishop."

Gibbs leaves the ER. Tim has an odd feeling. He cant seem to find a logical reason for why Gibbs would straight up ignore Sloane's profile on the suspect or why he doesn't seem to trust her anymore. As Tim is sitting in the ER waiting for an update on Torres and Bishop he starts to think about the development that has happened with his boss over the past 2 years since he and Gibbs came back from Paraguay. Gibbs seems more happy and smiling. He is more open about his feelings which to McGee at first was odd but he has come to like it. he has come to like the more human side of Gibbs that Sloane has brought out or maybe it was the events of paraguy. Tim likes the idea of Gibbs and Sloane together if he is being completely honest but he is not going to let Torres and Bishop know that he secretly hopes that Bishop is right, but… he doubted she is.


	6. trust and distrust

Gibbs runs up the stairs to get to director Vance's office. As he passes by Sloane's office she comes out and starts talking to him. At first, he is just ignoring her and continues towards his determined destination.

"I told you not to corner him. I warned you, Gibbs." Gibbs stops walking and turns around. He is just looking at Sloane with a cold look. He just nearly got his entire team killed by arresting one guy and now he has Sloane yelling at him. he is determined to not get into a big argument with her. Sloane is trying her best to calm herself down. She takes a deep breath before she continues "If you had trusted me Gibbs…" now Gibbs is losing it.

"Trusted you, Sloane?... Really…" he yells. He doesn't care who is watching or listening. "I am supposed to trust you after you have gone behind my back?" Sloane looks shocked and offended by that accusation.

"going behind your back? what are you talking about?"

"I saw your file you were working on in your office. You are for some reason making a background on me. I don't know why but I can't work with people I can't trust. I can't depend my team's life on your profile if I can't trust you."

Now Sloane is really upset and offended. "Gibbs my Profile was accurate. If you had bothered to read it and follow it, you would have known not to start shooting at this guy."

"What is happening here?" Director Vance has heard the argument and he has come out to see what is going on. Gibbs and Slone stop arguing. None of them have the urge to explain themselves to director Vance.

"Could someone please explain to me what is going on?"

"Gibbs thinks I am doing a background check on him," Sloane explains.

"I saw it… in your office. The pictures on your screen."

"that was just a case I was working on."

"involving my 3 ex-wives and Shannon. You need to stay away from Shannon."

Vance looks shocked at Sloane. Sloane just looks straight up confused about the accusations.

"explanation time Agent Sloane. I haven't asked you to do a background on Gibbs."

"I'm not…" Sloane says she is just as shocked and confused about Gibbs's outburst as Vance is.

"what where you doing?" Vance asks. Sloane walks into her office and stands behind her desk. Vance follows her and Gibbs unwillingly follows Vance. Sloane shows them the 5 pictures that she saw on the computer screen in the forensics lab a few days ago.

"I overheard McGee, Bishop, Torres, and dr. Palmer talking about a profile that didn't fit. When I asked them which one… they wouldn't say. They were called to a case and then I saw theses five pictures on the computer screen along with a picture of me." Sloane explains. Based on the very confused facial expression on Gibbs and Vance she decides to continue her explanation. "I recognized former NCIS director Shepard, but I didn't recognize the others. So, I decided to do a little investigation myself to figure out who they were and what the connection between them were. And hopefully, figure out their connection to me because it seems to me that the 3 agents and dr. Palmer seems to think I have some connection to these women."

"well, Agent Gibbs is the only common denominator I can see." Director Vance says and looks back at Gibbs for confirmation. Gibbs takes a step closer to the desk. He seems to have calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, they are my 3 ex-wives and Shannon and then there is my former partner and NCIS director Jenny Shepard but why didn't you just ask me for a connection, Jack?" Gibbs asks now in a lot calmer tone.

"I didn't know they were all connected to you, Gibbs. I thought it was an active case your agents were working on and that it was one of my profiles, they were criticizing."

Gibbs takes a picture from Sloane's desk of Shannon. He looks at it and smiles. It doesn't go unnoticed by Sloane and Vance. Vance takes that as a sign that the issue between them has been resolved and his mediation service is no longer required.

"well, it seems to me like this was all based on a misunderstanding." Vance walks towards the door. the situation between his lead agent and the forensic psychologist seems to have been resolved in a peaceful manner. "You two need to learn to talk to each other… communication is the key."

Director Vance reminds them as he leaves the office and closes the door behind him. Director Vance has a smile on his face as he walks back to his office. This was exactly the kind of head to head situation he was expecting when he hired Jack Sloane. He knew she and Gibbs would have some head to heads occasionally. But he must admit he had expected more than he has expected. The relationship between them is working out more smoothly then he had ever anticipated.


	7. truth be told

**note: Thank you so much for all of the reviews I gotten. I appreciate it. it encourages me to continue writing.**

Gibbs looks back at the door as it closes behind Vance. Then he turns his focus back to Sloane. She has sat down behind her desk. She looks up at him with an embarrassed look on her face.

"I'm really sorry about this Gibbs."

"Rule nr. 6 Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness." He says and walks over and sits down across from her.

"I didn't mean to make it look like I was doing background on you. I didn't know this was your ex-wives." She is hesitant with saying the last word in plural. She looks at the pictures before she looks over at him with a questioning look. "how many of them do you have?"

Gibbs looks away from her with a shy smile on his face. "3. Not including Shannon."

"wow." Sloane just simply says. Gibbs can only agree with her reaction. "I hope you are a better Agent than you are a husband." Sloane suddenly realizes that she might have offended him with that comment but then she sees a shy smile on Gibbs's face, and he nods. "that was what my ex-wife nr. 2 used to say." They are both laughing.

"so it was Tim, Bishop, and Torre who showed you these?" Gibbs asks.

"no, they didn't show me. They were talking in the forensics lab when I walked in. they got quiet and then you called them. I saw the pictures on the screen along with a picture of me. I just still can't see a connection between me, the former NCIS director and your ex-wives…" Sloane looks down at the papers on her desk. "I mean…" she looks up to meet his eyes… besides the obvious…"

Outside in the hallway, Agent McGee has been standing and listening. He got back from the hospital to talk to Sloane and overheard her arguing with Gibbs so he stayed in a safe distance until Vance had left the office. He had overheard Gibbs and Sloane's talk. McGee grabs his phone an quickly calls Torres.

"Gibbs knows." He says and walks down the stairs. "about why we were looking into his ex-wives on the computer a few days ago. Sloane was looking into it trying to figure out what we were talking about and she just told Gibbs. We are in trouble." McGee runs down to autopsy to inform Jimmy.

Meanwhile, in Sloane's office, Gibbs is telling Sloane about his 3 failed marriage and why he kept remarrying after Shannon and Kelly died. Sloane is just listening. She is sitting on the couch with her legs tucked up under her and Gibbs are sitting in a chair across from her. when Gibbs is finally done talking about his 3 failed marriage Sloane looks over at him. he takes a sip of his coffee.

"I have never told anyone about this before. I prefer to keep it to myself. 3 failed marriage isn't exactly the proudest moment of my life."

"I don't judge. " she takes a sip of her coffee. "and I am not going to tell anyone. It stays with me."

"I appreciate that Jack."

"but can I ask you one thing?" she is waiting for his answer. He takes a sip of his coffee before he nods. Not sure what she is going to ask him.

"Why didn't you just ask me what I was doing instead of assuming I was going behind your back?"

"I figured you wouldn't tell me," he answers honestly. She doesn't like the answer but she appreciates his honesty. "you don't report to me. you report to Vance. So I figured you wouldn't tell me if it was an order from Vance."

"if Vance had asked me to do a background on you don't you think I would have come to you?"

"I hope so." He just simply says and takes a sip of his coffee.

"remember the first time we spoke in MTAC. When I told you why I showed up at your house. I needed to see if you were the kind of person I can work with?" Gibbs nods. He remembers. "the answer to myself back then was hell, yes and I haven't doubted it for a second ever since. You have had my back since the day I started here and I would never go behind your back, Gibbs." She takes a sip of her coffee. "not even on Vance's order." She adds. Gibbs looks a bit surprised at her. he knows how much she trusts and respects and feels like she is in debt to Vance after he saved her in Afghanistan. He never thought she would disobey his orders. "I am a soldier Gibbs. I respect the chain of command but I also know that if you don't trust your team members with your life you are as good as dead." Gibbs is convinced and he feels bad that he doubted her. there is a moment of silence before Gibbs speaks again. He looks up to meet her eyes.

"So besides the obvious that we are friends… any theory on what connection my team thought you had with my ex-wives?" Gibbs asks. It makes them both laugh.

"no… but with your permission, I sure would like to investigate and figure it out."

Gibbs empties his cup and stands up.

"go ahead, Jack. Let me know." He says with a smile and leaves the office.


	8. confession

Jack is sitting in her office. It is late. It is around 7 pm. she is sitting on her couch trying to figure out how to proceed with her investigation. She hears Director Vance leave his office. He pokes his head into her office.

"Sloane, you are still here?" he says surprised when he walks by her office and sees she is still sitting at her desk. He walks into her office and closes the door.

"How did it go with Gibbs?"

"there were no gunshots." Sloane jokes. Vance nods. "well ill take that as a good sign."

Sloane takes off her glasses.

"relax Leon. We are fine."

"I told you from the start that he can be hard to handle sometimes."

"so can you Leon," Sloane says. Leon at first looks confused but he has to admit she might be right.

"So how did it go?" Vance asks and takes a seat.

"well. we are going to figure out what the agents were looking for."

"so you are working together. Conspiring against the younger agents?" Vance asks. Sloane has her devilish smile on her face. "as long as I don't end up having a shootout in the squad room, it is fine with me."

"relax Leon."

"well, it sure sounded like I was close to having a shootout in here today."

Sloane smiles and shakes her head. "don't worry Leon. Gibbs and I just want to know why the agents of Gibbs's team were looking for. They must have been looking for something. They thought there where a connection between me, Gibbs first wife Shannon, former NCIS director Shepard and Gibbs 3 ex-wifes."

"Maybe they were just looking for answers."

Sloane look confused at Leon so he elaborates. "we have all noticed how Gibbs has changed over the 1.5 years since you started here. He is happier, he is smiling more… I'm not saying it is a bad thing… they might just want answers to why. And they might think you are the answer."

"well, I started here only a few weeks after Gibbs and McGee came home from Paraguay. We both know how captivity and torture can change someone. Some for the better and some to the wors. You and I both know that." Sloane says. Vance nods in agreement.

"We sure do Agent Sloane." Nothing more needs to be said about that. They have both been there and knows how it can change people. Leon gets a text on his phone.

"oh, dinner is ready. I should get home." he stands up and walks to the door.

"Gibbs has changed and I am glad to see that he has made a great friend in you. you two have both needed that for a long time." Leon says with a smile before he leaves her office. Right before he closes the door shut he hears Vance greet Agent Bishop and a moment later it knocks on the door and Ellie pokes her head in.

"hey, Jack." Sloane stands up in a second and walks over to go give her friend a hug. She was so worried about Ellie after she saw the news feed.

"I'm so glad you are okay Ellie," Jack says and hugs her. ELiie sees surprised about the greeting.

"well thank you, Jack." Jack takes a step back to take a look at her friend to see how badly the injuries are, but she only seems to have sustained a few bruises and scratches. It all seems to be rather superficial.

"hmmm… Jack, I am actually here to apologies to you." Ellie says and sounds really embarrassed. She is looking down at the ground. Jack looks confused at her. they walk over and sit down on the couch for Ellie to elaborate. "about the other night in the forensics lab when McGee, Torres, Jimmy and I were talking about a profile." Jack nods. Now she understands what Ellie is talking about. "I was the one who started it and asked the guys to come down there. I had a theory that I shared with them, but… I should have told you instead."

"okay. Theory about what?" Jack asks pretending as she has absolutely no clue about the pictures.

"I saw you and Gibbs in the squad room earlier that day and I just got this feeling that…" Ellie is looking down at her hands. Sloane is waiting for her to continue. "feeling about what?"

"you and Gibbs." Ellie finally admits and looks up. Sloane looks surprised at her. "me and Gibbs as in…" Sloane asks waiting for Ellie to finish her sentence. "more than friends?"

Sloane just looks at her with wide eyes. "me and Gibbs… as an item?" Sloane asks and starts laughing. "Ellie really?" Ellie nods embarrassed. "but McGee told be that it is never going to happen."

"no, I agree with that."

"he said you are not Gibbs type."

"and why would that be?" Sloane asks trying to hide that she got a bit hurt about apparently not being Gibbs type.

"McGee showed me pictures of everyone that Gibbs of Gibbs ex-wives and also his ex-partner that he had a very close relationship to. They all have one thing in common that you don't share."

The hair color." Jack says. Ellie looks surprised at Jack. "I found your evidence." Jack stands up and walks over to her desk. Ellie is confused and follows jack. She widens her eyes when she sees the pictures on Jack's desk.

"you found the pictures on the computer," Ellie says embarrassed and runs a hand through her hair.

"Yeah. Next time you want to investigate me. At least hide the evidence." Jack says with a smile.

"I'm so sorry Jack. You must be really mad at me." Ellie says and looks down. She can't even look at Jack right now.

"no Ellie I'm not," Jack says and takes Ellie into a reassuring hug. "I'm not mad. But…" Jack looks at Ellie and waits for her to make eye-contact which Ellie is a little hesitant with. But she finally makes eye contact with Jack. "if you want to know something about me or my personal life. Just ask me."

Ellie nods. she looks down for a moment to find the courage to ask the burning question that she wants to know. She finally looks up to meet Jack's eyes. "do you have a thing with Gibbs?"

Sloane just looks at Ellie in disbelieve. "no." she says very determinedly.

"I asked," Ellie says in a way that makes both of them Smile. Sloane knows she kind of walked into that one herself.

Sloane and Ellie decide to make a cup of coffee and sit down for a chat.

"what made you think that Gibbs and I are a thing?" Sloane asks.

They are both sitting on the couch with their legs tucked up under them and each with a cup of coffee in their hands.

"I don't know. The way you are around each other." Ellie says. Sloane just looks questioning at her so Ellie elaborates. "he hugs you a lot. It never bothers him when you disagree with him like it does when either one of us does it. and over Christmas. He kissed you." Sloane looks utterly confused at Ellie. "Nick and I both saw you. he kissed you on the head and hugged you."

"so… he does that to Kasie too and he hugs you and McGee sometimes too. We are friends Ellie."

"he never lets anyone else behind his desk. only you." Ellie says very determinedly. She sounds very certain of herself. "and he definitely doesn't let anyone else touch him the way he lets you." Sloane seems absolutely clueless to what Ellie is talking about. "a few days ago I walked into the squad room. You and Gibbs were standing behind Gibbs's desk. your hand…" Ellie says and holds a dramatic pause. "was on his chest."

Sloane looks down in defeat. She knows Bishop is right. She does get physically closer to Gibbs than anyone else. "and you are the only person I have ever seen being able to convince Gibbs to leave a case in the middle of an investigation."

Sloane would be lying if she didn't agree with Ellie. Gibbs is more aware of her. he stands closer to her and he often has that shy smile at her, that she feels he only does to her, but she has told herself that it is just a coincidence. Maybe Director Vance and Bishop are right. Maybe she has become pretty close with Gibbs. He is the only person that she has ever confided in regarding Afghanistan and she feels like he is confiding in her too. He told her about Shannon's birthday and about how he killed the man who murdered his family. He has let her stay at his house several times and told her about his father. Something that she doesn't feel like he does to anyone else. Maybe… they have become more than just close friends over time, without her even noticing… or maybe it is like Ellie said… she is not his type and he is just being a good friend to her.

She knows in her heart that Gibbs has definitely come to mean the world to her over the past 1.5 years and she can't imagine her life without him. she feels more comfortable confiding in him then she has ever done to anyone before. But the big problem is… Gibbs might not feel the same way about her.


	9. rule nr 12

**note: thank you so much to everyone who has commented on my story. this is the last chapter and I hope you enjoyed my story. I am so looking forward to 1703. the preview is promising so great :) enjoy and feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts. **

Sloane walks into Gibbs's house. She immediately notices the door to the basement is open. she hears the sound of sandpaper grinding on wood coming from the basement. She takes a deep breath before she walks to the door leading to the basement. She needs to do this before she loses her courage and runs away like she normally does. She always runs away when she gets scared over personal relationships, but she needs to rip the bandage off and get this over with.

She walks through the door and sees Gibbs standing over his boat with a block of sandpaper in his hand working on his boat. He looks up at her. she is just standing there without moving.

"Are you coming down, Jack?" he asks. That snaps her out of her head and she slowly walks down the stairs. She is not as confident as she normally is around Gibbs and especially in his house. She has been here so many times now it is starting to feel like home to her.

"did you figure it out?" he asks not looking up from his task at hand.

"hmm… yeah, I think so. I have a theory on my own though." She says and walks closer to him. he stops working and drops the sandpaper on the table. He wipes his hand and leans against the table. He is waiting for her to talk. She looks down at her hands for a moment to find the right words. Right now she most of all wants to run out of the basement and pretend she was never there, but she knows she can't.

"I spoke to Ellie she told me what they had been looking for. They had a theory."

"about what?" Gibbs asks and turns around to face his table where he is fiddling with something. "us." Sloane says. Gibbs stops moving his stuff around and he starts laughing.

"let me guess. They thought we where romantic right?" he laughs. Sloane is confused.

"You knew?" she asks and walks over to stand next to him at the table.

"they always have these theories about my personal life,"

he says and walks over to continue his work on his boat.

"Maybe because you don't tell them anything and they care about you. so they want to know things about you. you are family to them as much as they are to you."

"they should just ask," Gibbs says while he never looks up from his boat.

"would you answer truthfully?" she asks. She knows she is pushing him but she also knows that with Gibbs that is the only way she is going to get some answers. He doesn't answer her question. "you know they see you. they see you have changed. They notice how you are around the office. They have noticed how you talk to me in my office."

"yeah well, we work together." He says in a bit of a harsh tone.

"but they also notice that you are behaving differently around me. so has Director Vance."

"They see what they want to see."

"no, they see everything. You think they only see what you want them to see, Gibbs."

Gibbs just shakes his head and turns back to focus on his boat. Jack stays where she is. Gibbs can feel her eyes on him and that she wants to say something.

"anything else Jack?" he asks.

"Why are you treating me differently than the others. You are not as tough on me as you are on the other agents." She says.

"you are not one of my agents."

"no but you are tough on Vance too and he is not your agent either."

Gibbs doesn't say anything but just focuses on his boat.

"Gibbs you have a lot of rules but you have broken several of them around me." she is trying her best to get him to talk to her but neither of them seems to work. "why don't you push me as hard as you do the others. I spoke to Ellie. You didn't push her as hard as you did with your former female agents. Kate Todd and Ziva David you were tough on them from the start. They became great agents. Ellie is a Great agent because you trained her. she told me she had to ask you to be tough on her to treat her the same way you treat Torres and McGee."

"don't you dare talk about Ziva and Kate." He says and turns around to face her. he is almost yelling now.

"then answer me, Gibb. Why aren't you as tough on me as you are with your other agents?"

"I am tough on my agents because I care about them. I want them to be the best version of themselves. but every one of my agents I have been tough on has ended up dead, Ziva, Kate, Jenny... That is what happens when I get too close to someone. When I start to care too much of the people I work with… they end up dead." He almost sounds defeated.

"Why didn't you tell me that?"

He shakes his head in defeat. "because…"

"because you didn't want to scare me." he finishes his sentence. He looks up. "you care about me. that is why you don't mind me breaking some of your rules, as opposed to your agents of your team."

Gibbs just smiles shyly and turns back to his boat.

"you have a rule about never interrupting you in interrogation and Always work as a team… I have broken several of your rules. You never corrected me."

"when you need help ask. You have reminded me of why I made that rule in the first place." He says still not looking at her. she is starting to feel he is softening up so she can ask the question she has wanted to ask him for a while.

"Gibbs…" she says. she can fell the tears starting to form in her eyes. "you don't have to shut me out. I think I have proven to you by now that you can trust me." she says.

"it is not about trust, Jack." He says in a harsh tone than she wasn't expecting.

"then what is it about." She snaps back at him.

"rule nr. 12: never date a co-worker."

"that is bull shit, Gibbs." She yells at him not. "you are scared and you are hiding behind your rules."

"my rules Jack." He says very determined and turns around to face her. he has a very determined look on his face and so does she. Right now it almost seems like a who blinks first competition. They have had quite a few of those over the last 1.5 years. But it has never been as emotional and as intense as this one is.

"Why don't you stop being so scared and stop hiding and tell me how you feel?" she asks with tears starting to form in her eyes.

He looks down at the piece of cloth he has in his hands. "hmmm…" he doesn't know what to say. "I don't…"

"oh, that is right. You don't talk about your feelings. You shot people out. You never let anybody get close to you. you never get personally involved with anyone or any case. It is just easier that way, isn't Gibbs." She almost yells at him.

"yes, it is Jack." He yells back. "because everyone I love ends up dead." He says. She looks surprised at him. she didn't expect him to talk about love regarding her.

"Shannon, Jenny, Diane, Kelly, Ziva, Kate…" He looks down at the ground. "Everyone I get close to ends up dead. I can't risk losing you." The last sentence is almost not audible to Jack. She has never seen Gibbs this vulnerable.

"Gibbs." She walks closer to him. She has her arms around him and hugs him close. "I can't lose you too, Jack." His voice is so soft.

"so it has become easier to just shot everyone out?" she says more as a statement than as a question. He nods. he is talking into her neck.

"Until you came around." He admits. She leans back from the hug to look into his eyes. She needs to make sure she heard that right. "you changed things. It used to be a hell of a lot easier to keep people at a distance. To keep emotions out of the office."

Gibbs takes a step away from her. He is standing with his back to her again. He is not good at dealing with emotions.

"yeah for me too." She admits.

"What is this Jack?" he finally asks after a moment of silence. He turns around to face her. " we spend Christmas together. We confide in each other as coworkers and friends, but…"

"it is whatever we want it to be." She says and takes a step closer to him and invades his personal space. She never breaks eye contact with him. she notices a small blush on his cheeks as she steps into his personal space. She never thought she would see that on the tough Marine.

"Rule nr. 12 he reminds more himself than her, right before they close the space between them in a soft kiss. When they break the kiss they look into each other's eyes and all he sees is the kind and sweet loving smile in her eyes that has melted down the walls around his heart.

"Are you still sure about rule nr. 12?" she asks. He just smiles and chuckles. "maybe ill have to rewrite it." he says and takes her in for another sweet kiss.

"I'll help you with that, cowboy." They both start laughing. This is promising great for the future despite rule nr. 12.


End file.
